Man allegedly tried to place ‘chemical-laced' handkerchief over teenager's mouth in Roxbury
The teenager told police he was waiting for his brother to pick him up when an older man in a Hawaiian shirt approached, poured an unknown liquid on a red handkerchief, and tried to put it over the child's mouth, prosecutors said.
The teenager fled to the Nubian Square bus station and contacted police, authorities said.
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Police spotted a man on Dudley Street, later identified as Cowart, clad in a Hawaiian shirt and carrying a red handkerchief, officials said.
Cowart, who was sweating profusely, denied knowing the 14-year-old or interacting with him, but the teenager later identified him as his alleged assailant, prosecutors said.
Cowart was arrested without incident, and investigators later found the chemical cleaning agents in his car, prosecutors said.
'This is a strange, and extremely disturbing, set of facts,' Hayden said. 'It doesn't take much imagination to appreciate how frightening it was for this young man to be standing on a street corner and suddenly be accosted in such a bizarre manner. I'm grateful that he suffered no apparent injuries.'
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Boston Globe
a day ago
- Boston Globe
Man allegedly tried to place ‘chemical-laced' handkerchief over teenager's mouth in Roxbury
On July 28, police responded at 12:21 p.m. to a reported assault and battery at the corner of Dudley and Washington streets, prosecutors said. The teenager told police he was waiting for his brother to pick him up when an older man in a Hawaiian shirt approached, poured an unknown liquid on a red handkerchief, and tried to put it over the child's mouth, prosecutors said. The teenager fled to the Nubian Square bus station and contacted police, authorities said. Advertisement Police spotted a man on Dudley Street, later identified as Cowart, clad in a Hawaiian shirt and carrying a red handkerchief, officials said. Cowart, who was sweating profusely, denied knowing the 14-year-old or interacting with him, but the teenager later identified him as his alleged assailant, prosecutors said. Cowart was arrested without incident, and investigators later found the chemical cleaning agents in his car, prosecutors said. 'This is a strange, and extremely disturbing, set of facts,' Hayden said. 'It doesn't take much imagination to appreciate how frightening it was for this young man to be standing on a street corner and suddenly be accosted in such a bizarre manner. I'm grateful that he suffered no apparent injuries.' Advertisement Travis Andersen can be reached at
New York Post
11-07-2025
- New York Post
Native Hawaii man to be resentenced in hate crime against a white man he beat with a shovel
A native Hawaiian man serving time for brutally beating a white man with a shovel over a decade ago will be resentenced and could be hit with additional years in prison after his appeal of his hate crime conviction was rejected. Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 35, was originally sentenced to six-and-a-half years by a Honolulu judge alongside Levi Aki Jr, another Native Hawaiian man, after a jury found them both guilty of the hate-fueled violence in 2023. The court determined that the duo were motivated by Christopher Kunzelman's race when they repeatedly beat him with a shovel in 2014 when he and his wife tried to move into their remote village in Maui. 4 Levi Aki Jr. and Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi were both found guilty of a hate crime, agreeing with prosecutors that the two men were motivated by Christopher Kunzelman's race when they punched, kicked, and used a shovel to beat him in 2014. AP Kunzelman was left with severe brain damage following the assault that placed such stress on his marriage that it catalyzed a divorce, his wife Lori said. Alo-Kaonohi tried to appeal the conviction, taking issue with the federal hate crime enhancement, but the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction Thursday. During the original trial, Alo-Kaonohi's attorneys asserted that the attack on Kunzelman was fueled more by his entitled attitude. It's still not clear how much more time he could get. Considering the judge's previous sentence, though, retired federal defender Alexander Silvert, who is not involved in the retrial, suggested three extra years could feasibly be tacked on. Lori Kunzelman said she'd welcome the extended sentence after she and her husband were essentially run out of their dream home before even moving in. 4 Kaulana Alo-Kaonohi, 35, was originally sentenced to six-and-a-half years by a Honolulu judge. AP 4 The court determined that the duo were motivated by Christopher Kunzelman's race when they repeatedly beat him with a shovel in 2014. Christopher Kunzelman The Kunzelmans still own the trodden-down house they originally purchased on the ocean for $175,000 while they were seeking an escape from Arizona after Lori was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. 'We had vacationed on Maui year after year — loved, loved, loved Maui,' she said. It's been impossible to sell the home, Lori said, as locals just 'won't allow anybody to step foot' on the property. 4 Christopher Kunzelman was beaten when he and his wife tried to move into a remote village in Maui. Christopher Kunzelman 'It was obviously a hate crime from the very beginning. The whole time they're saying things like, 'You have the wrong skin color. No 'haole' is ever going to live in our neighborhood,'' Lori said after the 2023 trial wrapped. Haole, a Hawaiian word that was central to the first trial, can mean 'foreigner' and 'white person.' Much of the struggles between native Hawaiians and white tourists stems from the lack of education surrounding the islands' forced inclusion as a US state and its native history. The Hawaii Innocence Project plans on contesting the retrial to prove that 'haole' is not a derogatory term, the organization's co-director Kenneth Lawson said. With Post wires
New York Post
08-07-2025
- New York Post
Golfer pummeled, thrown into pond during wild on-course fight: video
A golfer was pummeled and thrown into a pond during a wild on-course brawl, video posted to social media shows. The fight, which according to TMZ happened Friday at the Alberta Springs Golf Resort in Alberta, Canada, was seemingly sparked by a group of golfers annoyed by the slow pace of the group in front of them. 'They've been sitting there for 23 f–king minutes,' one golfer in the group behind said. Those words seemed to have lit an inferno inside a man in a Hawaiian shirt, almost ready to tee off. He began to throw obscenities at the people watching him take his sweet time, delaying everyone else. His voice got louder every time he spoke to the other men. The guy in the Hawaiian shirt began to walk slowly toward the other group of people. He then stopped very close to the other men and kept verbally harassing them. 3 Former NHL player Nick Tarnasky grabs the man in a move reminiscent of the NHL @NUCLRGOLF/X He dropped his gloves almost like a hockey player ready to fight. But nobody came to challenge him at that moment. That is, until one of the guys waiting — speculated to be former NHL tough guy Nick Tarnasky — told the already angry man, 'You're not scaring anybody.' When those were said, the angry man began to charge at the group of people. The alleged ex-hockey enforcer grabbed the guy in the Hawaiian shirt and gave him an early shower as he tossed him into a pond nearby. 3 Tarnasky throws the angry man to the grass @NUCLRGOLF/X While that seemed like the end of the scuffle, to the surprise of many at the golf course, it wasn't The now-wet man trudged out of the pond covered in pond gunk and tried to keep fighting. The former pugilist held his ground and landed three punches into the guy's head. The man in the Hawaiian shirt was then pushed to the ground. 3 Nick Tarnasky #74 of the Florida Panthers fights with Tanner Glass #15 of the Vancouver Canucks on February 11, 2010. NHLI via Getty Images It took a third time meeting the ground for the guy in the Hawaiian shirt to get the message, and finally, the fight ended. Canadian police told TMZ that officers responded to the scene after reports of an intoxicated person trying to start fights. The suspect was gone by the time officers arrived, according to the report.
